No new govt after Fatah-Hamas meet

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – A Fatah-Hamas meeting on Tuesday ended without a final conclusion on forming a unity government, a senior Fatah official said.

Azzam al-Ahmad said that there was nearly a final agreement on the names and that President Mahmoud Abbas would announce the government on Thursday in Ramallah.

Al-Ahmad had previously said the 15 cabinet ministers would be announced late Tuesday.

Representatives of Fatah and Hamas were in Gaza City earlier in the day discussing the final agreement on the names of ministers who would make up a unity government.

Well-placed sources told Ma’an that Rami Hamdallah is likely to become minister of interior, while current minister of finance Shukri Bishara is likely to keep the finance portfolio. The portfolio of foreign affairs will either be given to current minister Riyad al-Maliki or to Ziad Abu Amr who will also be deputy prime minister, according to the source.

The ministry of endowment will be given to Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, while Kamal Shirafi will keep the portfolios of social affairs and labor, added the sources.

Mamoon Abu Shahla, from the Gaza Strip, will become minister of economy, they added. An agreement has been reached to combine the ministries of public works and transportation.